Drying artificial silk packages



Dec. 29, 1936.

K. MOOG DRYING ARTIFICIAL SILK PACKAGES Filed June 27, vv17.934

INVENTOR BY E.

ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 29, 1936 UNIT-ED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,065,981 lDRYING ARTIFICIAL SILK PACKAGES Karl Moog, Obernburg-on-the-Main,Germany, i

assignor to American Enka Corporation, Enka, N. C., a corporation ofDelaware Application June 27, 1934, Serial No. 732,715 'In Germany July4, 1933 2. claims. (C1. 34-24) 'This invention relates to a process ofand an In the past, it has been the practice tofsubject freshly spunpackages of artificial silk td washing and other similar wet treatingprocesses while in package form. Subsequent to the wet treatment of thepackages they weredried and according to the older procedures during.the drying the packages were retained in the spinning pots or onbobbins, or as an alternativethe packages were placed on drying supportssuch as the supports employed when drying skeins of artificial silk.Another of the heretofore used methods of drying the packages involvedthe flattening of the cakes together and the passing of these cakes 20onto drying frames. lIn all of these past modes of operation the dryingprogressed throughout the bodies of the packages in substantially alldirections. v l

One decided disadvantage encountered in the former methods of drying'theartificial silk packages was that the thread in the .dried packages didnot possess uniform 'dyeuabso'rptive characteristics. Thereason-for`nonuniform dyeing rof l the thread in packages which weredried under conditions as above set forth is attributable to- ,fthevariable contraction which occurred throughout the respective packagesvduring such drying. 'Y

When a drying agent is permitted to contact withv a'. packageofartificial silk from all directions, the outer layers v of the package'cannot contract to the same extent as the inner layersthereof since theouter layers vcannot shrink freelyvdu'e to the interior ofthe packagebeing still moist and more 4 or less 'rigid with the result that the.filaments or provision of `an apparatus wherein the drying medium o ragent is passed 4through the packages from the inside to the outsideonly.

Other advantages and objects will be apparent from the followingdetailed description when considered in -connection Vwith theaccompanying 55 drawing wherein:

thread of the outer layers meet substantial 're- Fig.l 1 is a,perspective view of an apparatus embodied in the invention,

Fig. 2`is a cross section taken on line 2-2 of Figi illustrating theposition of the spacer plates with respect to the artificial silkpackage prior to the drying operation, and

Fig. 3 isa view similar to Fig. 2 showing the relation of the spacedplates with respect'to the artificial silk packages after the vdryingoperation has been substantially completed.

'I'he invention may be more readily understood by referring 'to thedrawing wherein l0 indicates a metallic container having a base I I.This base II contains a plurality of orifices I2 which are arranged insuch a way that the artificial silk packages I3 may be placed injuxta-position thereon with their central openings I4 arranged gpdirectly above the orifices I2.

A ledge or-ridge-like support I5 extends inwardly from the interiorwalls of the container III and the ledge may be formed integral with thecontainer walls or it may be adjustably fastened to the walls'. Theledge is arranged parallel Yto thebase member I I and is arranged atahdistance therefrom slightly le'ss than the height of the respectiveartificial silk packages prior to their vdrying so that a spacer platelor support YI6 may come to rest upon the ledge and be sup- -portedthereby after the packages on the base are dried. A series of the spacerplates or supports I6 are employed when it is desired to dry a pluralityof layers of artificial silk packages simultaneously by having thelayers positioned one above the other.

Each ofthe spacer plate elements I6 are constructed with a base I'I andsides I8, and in order to successfully'practice the present process theheight of the sides I8 is predetermined and is slightly less than theheight of the artificial silk packages prior to their being dried. Theinitial difference in the height of the spacer plates and the height ofthe packages is such that the heights after the drying of the packagesare substantially the same.

Therefore,V when these spacer plates` I6 are first placed upon therespective layers .of

packages, vthe packages themselves will sustain the weight of the spacerplates and other packages which may be positioned thereabove.

Each ofthe spacer plates I6, has its basel I1 formed with a series oforifices I9 in such a manner that when several layers of. packages arepositioned within the container, the axes of .the

packages may be axially arranged with each vertical row having theircenter openings communicating through the respective orifices in thespacer plates.

It will be clear from the above that the appa- -bottom of the container,or vice versa, the drying of each package takes place in a substantiallyuniform manner from the inside to the outside thereof. Due to thismanner of drying, the inner layers of filaments or thread in therespective packages commence drying and therefore shrink first and asthe drying proceeds to the outer part of the package the resistance fromthe inner part will consequently be eliminated and will therefore permitof uniform contraction throughout the body of the package.

l. In practicing the present method in the apparatus referred to in thedrawing, it will be seen that when a drying medium such as warm air ispassed through the cakes or packages, the heights `of the respectivecakes will gradually decrease, and the base l1, of each spacer platewill accordingly gradually sink until it is supported by the sides I8 ofthe spacer plate next below. By such an arrangement, the paths of thedrying medium are at all times restricted to the zone within thechannelJ formed by the thread free space within the interior of thevertical rows of packages and the openings of the spacer platestherebetween, and therefore, the drying action will at all times besubstantially completely taking r place from the inside to the outsideof the pack- .used upon the upper layer of packages in v.place of a typeof spacer plate otherwise employed.

Whereas the drawing discloses the side members of each of the spacerplates as constituting the supports for the adjacent spacer platethereabove upon the completion of the drying operation, any othersuitable supporting means may be employed which will provide for thesuccessful performance of the drying action when carried out inaccordance with the present invention.

What I claim is: y

1. The method of drying packages of artificial silk the respectiveinteriors of which are in unsupported condition comprising arranging a.plurality of wet interiorly unsupported packages of articial silk in avertical column with spacer plates therebetween, with the packages eachsupporting the column thereabove, passing a drying medium centrallythrough the column of packages while avoiding any substantial contact ofthe drying medium with-the exterior surfaces of the packages, continuing-the passing of the ldrying medium through the interior of the column ofpackages, and thereby gradually effecting a progressive drying of thepackages from their interiors to their respective exteriors with theresultant contraction and decrease in the height of the respectivepackages, and eiecting the transfer of the load of the/column above fromthe lower packages shortly prior to the period of maximum contraction ofthe packages.

2. The method of drying packages of artificial silk the respectiveinteriors of which are in unsupported condition comprising arranging abelow the same and to move downwardly in accordance with the contractionof the respective packages, and gradually relieving each of thecontracted packages of the weight of such spaccil plates and packages asexist thereabove by otherwise supporting each spacer plate when it is`moved into a predetermined spaced relation with respect to the nextlower spacer plate, whereby substantially air-tight passages defined bythe thread free interiors of the packages are maintained during thedrying period with the resultant progressive drying of the packages fromthe interior to the exterior thereof.

- KARL MOOG.

